OurCoast.com -- Tours

Owens-Thomas House - 124 Abercorn Street, (912) 233-9743.

Open for touring. Admission charged. Allow 30 minutes for docent-led tour. Finest example of Regency architecture in country. Designed by William Jay from Bath, England. First level of tabby, a mixture of oyster shells, sand, water and lime. Unique gangplank-style bridge links east and west sides of second floor. Behind the house is the finest remaining stable-slave quarters in the city and the tabby walls original to the garden site.

Just after Christmas, 1817, the young English architect, William Jay, reached Savannah and supervised construction of the house he had designed for cotton broker Richard Richardson. This outstanding example of Regency architecture is one of several important houses designed by Jay before he left the United States in 1824. In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Savannah and spoke from this glorious house. It is a memorable experience to stand in the dining room on a sunny day with sunlight pouring through the amber glass onto silver, brass and mahogany. Miss Meta Thomas, granddaughter of a previous owner, George W. Owens, willed the house to the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences for a house museum. The house and even the kitchen below have period furnishings. 124 Abercorn Street.

Map | Next Stop: Mary Marshall Row

A. Mulberry Holiday Inn
B. Isaiah Davenport House
C. Owens-Thomas House
D. Mary Marshall Row
E. Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
F. Battersby-Hartridge-Anderson House
G. Flannery O'Connor House
H. Andrew Low House
I. Hamilton-Turner house
J. Temple Mickve Israel
K. Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory
L. Masonic Temple
M. Green-Meldrim House
N. St. Johns Episcopal Church
O. Sorrel-Weed house
P. 307-309 Bull St.
Q. Champion-McAlpin-Fowlkes House
R. U.S. Post Office
S. Lutheran Church of the Ascension
T. Juliette Gordon Low House
U. Christ Church
V. U.S. Customs House
W. Savannah Cotton Exchange